Feeling Festive!

You might have noticed that it's that time of year again; snow's been falling, people are buying food like it's going out of style, there's lots of films on the telly and nobody dies in this week's Murder, She Wrote.

We'd like to wish you all a peacful and joy-filled Christmastime and a wonderful New Year!

Here's to 2011!

Tree hugging update

You might recall the post a couple of months back about the ConDem plans to auction off our national forests to private enterprises. This is, thankfully, still pending while they cut public services, state support for the vulnerable and the tax bills of certain retail groups and mobile phone service providers. The campaign to stop these plans from eventually going ahead, however, is not.

38 Degrees are still raising money for this campaign; they will be launching a media campaign to raise offline awareness. 80,000 (and more!) people have signed their petition and £15,000 has been raised for the campaign. Please, if you haven't already, consider signing the petition yourself. And then why not suggest it to two more people (or three or four or five?) and ask them to pass it on, too.

And while you're at the 38 Degrees site, have a look at their other campaigns. There's a lot going on, and will hopefully effect more change than chaning your Facebook profile picture.

Timely advice

"Been stuck indoors all week because of the snow?  Well, your body and brain are probably dehydrated with the wearing of forty layers of clothes and having the central heating on 24/7.


Here's a few ideas to help...

• Switch off all electrical equipment when you're not using it - don't leave it on standby.
• Put humidifiers on radiators. A wet towel will do!
• Drink at least one and a half litres of water a day.
• Create a mini-climate in your space with green plants (check that they're pet safe if that applies) or a mini humidifier or desktop air cleaner.
• Turn your central heating thermostat down by a degree (or two!) to reduce dehydration - and save energy and money too.
• Especially if you're working from home, don't eat your meals over your computer. If you can get out for a short break, a breath of fresh air will refresh you - and help you appreciate the warmth of indoors!

These - plus daily hemp oil internally and a good salt scrub once a week, followed by a good layer of body oil overnight to feed your skin - will help to allieviate the bleak mid-winter."